Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. | 26 June 1999
Home town | Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Colorado |
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Sport | |
Country | Palestine |
Sport | Athletics |
Events | |
College team | UCCS Mountain Lions |
Turned pro | 2023 |
Layla Almasri ( /ælˈmɑːsri/ al-MAHSS-ree; [1] Arabic : ليلى المصري, Palestinian pronunciation: [ˈleːlælˈmˤɑsˤri] ; born 26 June 1999) is a Palestinian-American athlete specializing in middle-distance and long-distance running. In 2024, she received an invitation from the International Olympic Committee to represent Palestine in the 800 meters event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. [2] [3] [4]
Almasri was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to a family from Nablus, West Bank. She started running as a young child, taking part in running clubs and joining her middle school's track team. [1]
She attended the University of Colorado Colorado Springs from 2017 to 2023, studying biomedical sciences and pursuing a career as a medical sonographer. [5]
Almasri joined her university's track and field club, the UCCS Mountain Lions, and ran cross-country. [6] [7] She later became assistant coach. [1]
In March 2023, she began running under the Palestinian flag, and in June 2023, she won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the 2023 Arab Athletics Championships in Marrakech. In July 2023, she finished 6th in the 1500 meters at the Asian Athletics Championships. [8] She competed at the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships. [9]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she set a new national record for Palestine in the 800 metres during her heat, but failed to advance. [10]
Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Hind Dehiba Chahyd is a Moroccan-French runner who specializes in the 1500 metres.
Jennifer Simpson is a retired American middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the 2011 World Championships, silvers at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships, and a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal is a Norwegian middle-, long-distance and steeplechase runner. She is a European Championships gold medallist in half marathon, silver medallist in 5000 metres and bronze medallist in 10,000 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. Grøvdal is a four-time Olympian and represented Norway at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Kipyegon is the current world record holder for the 1,500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder for the 5,000 metres. Kipyegon is the only three-time Olympic champion in the 1500 metres race, having won a gold medal each at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also won a gold medal in the 1,500 m at the 2017, 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and in the 5,000 m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kipyegon became the first athlete ever to win three consecutive gold medals in the 1500m women's race, where she also set a new Olympic record. Kipyegon had earlier on in the 2024 Paris Olympics also earned a silver medal in the women's 5000m race, an event marked by controversy. Initially disqualified for obstruction, Kipyegon's second-place finish was later reinstated. Beatrice Chebet edged her out to win the gold.
Luiza Gega is an Albanian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase since 2016.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Esther Guerrero Puigdevall is a Spanish middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. She won two medals for the mixed relay at the European Cross Country Championships.
Ciara Mageean is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is the 2024 European Athletics Championships gold medalist at the distance, the first individual Irish European champion since Sonia O'Sullivan.
Jake Wightman is a British middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb Coe's 1500 m title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. At the European Athletics Championships, Wightman earned a bronze in 2018 and a silver for the 800 metres in 2022. He won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Soufiane El Bakkali is a Moroccan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is a two-time Olympic champion, having won gold in the event at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. He has also achieved significant success at the World Athletics Championships, securing back-to-back gold medals in 2022 and 2023. El Bakkali was also the 2022 Diamond League champion in his specialist event and is known for breaking Kenya's decades-long dominance in the steeplechase.
Sophie O'Sullivan is an Irish athlete. She won a silver medal in the 800 metres at the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships in Győr, Hungary. O'Sullivan won 1500 metres gold at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland. She represents the Washington Huskies at the University of Washington in NCAA track and field competitions.
Jessica Jolliffe is an Australian middle and long distance runner. She won a silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hull is a four-time national champion for Australia, with two titles in the 1500 m and two in the 5000 metres. She graduated from the University of Oregon, where she was a two-time individual NCAA Division I champion, and has run professionally for Nike since 2019.
Nadia Battocletti is an Italian female middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 5000 m and 10000 m races at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Battocletti won a silver medal in the 10,000 m and placed fourth in the 5000 m race.
Freweyni Hailu is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships over 1500 metres.
Rahel Daniel Chebre is an Eritrean long-distance runner. She finished fifth in the 10,000 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Gabriel Tual is a French middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres.
Samuel Tanner is a New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is Māori; his iwi affiliation is Ngāpuhi. Tanner is the New Zealand indoor record holder for the 1500 metres.
Mario García Romo is a Spanish middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 1500 metres. He was the national champion in the event in 2022, and he represented Spain in the 1500 m at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, finishing fourth and sixth.
Abbey Caldwell is an Australian middle-distance athlete.